Leftist rebel killed in foiled attack against banana firm in Surigao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - A suspected leftist rebel was killed in a clash with government troops in Surigao early yesterday, the military said today.

Lieutenant Colonel Eugenio Julio Osias IV, spokesperson of the army's 4th Infantry Division, said the encounter happened at Dayo- an village, Tago town, in Surigao del Sur province.

Osias said patrolling troops from the army's 36th Infantry Battalion ran into some 30 New People's Army guerrillas, with some wielding bolos, on their way to a banana plantation owned by multinational agribusiness firm Dole Philippines.

An insurgent was killed in the 20-minute ensuing fighting and his body was left behind by his fleeing comrades. Osias said he believed the rebels were on their way to chop down the plantation' s banana plants in an apparent attack against the firm. No one from the government side was injured, the military official said.